


blade or bullet

by DragonsAndCryptids



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, Post-Promised Day, it's to be expected when dealing with cadets, shenanigans ensue, these two are like the definition of power couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22595038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonsAndCryptids/pseuds/DragonsAndCryptids
Summary: No one is quite sure why Hawkeye and Armstrong ended up helping train cadets.But the cadets do know that those two women are the most terrifying officers they've ever had to deal with.They must be dating, right?
Relationships: Olivier Mira Armstrong/Riza Hawkeye
Comments: 5
Kudos: 101





	blade or bullet

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I ship Hawkeye/Mustang, this will always be one of my fav ships

There was a saying amongst the cadets and new recruits. 

Blade, or bullet? 

When you screwed up, screwed up  _ real _ bad, were you going to get the blade, or the bullet? Of course, if you were lucky, you might not get either one. Maybe they weren’t around, maybe they were off on some important mission, dealing with some complicated political thing. Who really knew? All the cadets cared about was the fact that they wouldn’t have to deal with them. 

No one was really sure why Olivier Mira Armstrong and Riza Hawkeye were involved with dealing with new recruits at all. There were theories, of course. One of the most popular was that they lost a wager with the Flame Alchemist. Some said it was to help them learn better people skills (that one was mostly aimed towards Armstrong). Whatever the case, all the cadets knew, was that the two women were terrifying. 

One of the most famous cases of a cadet’s life flashing before their eyes, had happened in front of everyone. 

During training one day, one of the jackasses didn’t have the safety on, and accidentally shot a fellow cadet. It wasn’t fatal, thankfully, wasn’t even close. The bullet had merely grazed the girl’s upper arm. 

Unfortunately for the poor soul, Hawkeye  _ and _ Armstrong were around that day. 

He got the blade. 

Everyone in the shooting range watched with wide eyes as Armstrong pressed her signature sword against the cadet’s upper arm. “Would you like the same wound?” 

It was deathly silent, and the poor cadet just stared at their superior with wide eyes, no idea how he was supposed to respond to that. 

No one knew if Armstrong would actually cut him, but honestly… it probably wouldn’t have surprised anyone. 

But Hawkeye gently grabbed the other woman’s wrist, and suggested they just put him through extra training with firearms. 

That day was eventful enough, but that was also when the _other_ rumors started. 

_ No one _ could change Armstrong’s mind, could talk her down like that. Well, except for Hawkeye, that is. 

Of course, everyone knew that Hawkeye seemed to have a lot of high ranking officers wrapped around her finger (everyone knew that Mustang wasn’t  _ really _ the one in charge), but her interactions with Armstrong were… different. Just a little. A little softer, a little fonder. 

Were they involved?  _ Romantically? _

It was preposterous! It made no sense! Wasn’t Hawkeye dating Mustang? That seemed right, didn’t it? 

Evidently not, because one particularly brave cadet asked her one day. Hawkeye laughed at her, before telling her that she was best friends with Mustang, nothing more, nothing less. They’d been close since they were kids, really. 

And then they all began to pay a little more attention. 

Armstrong’s lingering touches on Hawkeye’s shoulders. The fond looks they exchanged. One cadet swore he even saw them go home together. 

A couple weeks after the whole  _ shooting a fellow cadet _ incident, another mess unfolded. A group of cadets was caught out after curfew. Not a big deal. Except not only were they out after they were supposed to be in the barracks for the night, they had decided to go to the shooting range. 

If it had been their normal officers, they might have gotten off with a warning. 

Unfortunately for them, the bullet had decided to get in some late night practice of her own. 

Hawkeye made them practice shooting all night, if they were  _ that _ determined to better their skills (certainly not trying to show off, trying to impress the young women that she had chased off when she caught them), then she would help them practice. Not only that, they were expected to report for training the following morning, and get just as good marks as they normally did. 

They ended up going about thirty-six hours without sleep. 

Again, no one was sure if the blade or the bullet was worse. Armstrong’s punishments usually involved some sort of pain or humiliation, but at least they tended to be over quickly. Hawkeye’s were  _ grueling, _ but at least they tended to be more…  _ standard _ solutions to the issues. 

They suited each other, in an extremely odd way. It got to the point, that the cadets began to hope they actually  _ were _ together, and that it wasn’t just some juicy rumor, based on “evidence” that had been blown way out of proportion. They would make a… well, not a  _ cute _ couple, but a  _ good _ couple. 

Badass blondes that only left Mustang in charge out of the goodness of their hearts. 

One day, a cadet needed to go speak to a superior about leave time. It was rare to get such a thing when someone was still in training, but she hoped she could manage it. She really didn’t want to miss her sister’s wedding. 

She walked into her officer’s office, but he wasn’t who was waiting for her at the desk. 

The blade and the bullet. 

Hawkeye sat on the desk, her hands tangled in Armstrong’s loose hair, locked in a  _ very _ passionate embrace. 

The cadet squeaked. 

Armstrong’s eyes opened, and she broke off the kiss, before taking a step back from Hawkeye. “Cadet. What do you need?” 

“Uh…” She held the papers out. “L-Leave?” Had she actually seen that? They were both acting so  _ normal, _ like she hadn’t just caught them making out! 

“Oh.” Hawkeye held her hand out. She still sat on the desk, seemingly having no intention to move. “I’ll take care of those. Mind if I ask why?” 

“A wedding?” She handed the papers over, hoping her sweaty palms hadn’t left a stain on them. 

“Mm. We’ll get this approved for you, alright?” Hawkeye said. 

“Th-Thank you, sir.” She swallowed thickly, before turning on her heel, determined to get out of that office and that situation as quickly as possible. 

“No comment?” Armstrong asked, just before she managed to turn the doorknob. 

The cadet stiffened. “Is it really my place?” 

Armstrong laughed. “Smart girl.” 

“Are you going to tell anyone?” Hawkeye asked. Not that she minded too much if the girl did, the military had become far more lax about romantic relationships between its soldiers. Not to mention with how high up she and Armstrong were, even if it  _ was _ an issue, they’d only get a slap on the wrist. But she did wonder how their reputations might be affected. Olivier’s, especially. Most people assumed she was involved with Mustang already, why not make the rumor about her involvement with Olivier more widespread, too? 

But the cadet shook her head. “Not sure anyone would believe me anyways.” 

Hawkeye hummed. 

“But maybe…” she continued. “If I ever land myself in a situation where I have to pick blade or bullet, you’ll let me off the hook?” She turned and smiled, clearly not serious. 

Armstrong laughed even harder, and even Hawkeye began to snicker. 

“Is that what they’re calling us now?” Hawkeye asked. 

The cadet nodded. 

Armstrong snorted. “Fucking hate cadets.” She gave Hawkeye a look. “You just had to bet a year of dealing with cadets in that poker game against your dumbass colonel.” 

“Not a colonel anymore,” Hawkeye reminded her, before sighing and shaking her head. “Go on,” she told the cadet. “Get back to whatever you’re supposed to be doing right now.” 

She nodded. “Yes, sir!” She scrambled out of the office as fast as she possibly could. 

No one would ever believe her if she told them she caught Armstrong and Hawkeye kissing, but maybe they would believe her about the bet against Mustang being confirmed true. 

_ Blade or bullet, _ the cadets asked. 

Honestly, it didn’t matter. If you ended up faced with either one, you were done for. 


End file.
